


Not a beast

by UndeadFae



Category: Inazuma Eleven
Genre: Angst, Fights, Fudou and Kidou are there too, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, M/M, Minor Violence, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:42:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28679088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UndeadFae/pseuds/UndeadFae
Summary: When a chance encounter with a villains turns into disaster, there is a price to pay. They can only hope that it won't be too high.Or:Genda is still a self sacrificial idiot and may give Sakuma more than one heart attack on the long run.
Relationships: Genda Koujirou/Sakuma Jirou
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Not a beast

**Author's Note:**

> i've had this thing in the works for literal months- many sleepless nights later i have finally managed to finish it. it's a bit messy and i was a bit lost on some parts but i hope it's still alright :') ngl this is the very reason i started writing a bnha au at all lmao
> 
> and no i have no idea where this is going either. don't write at 3am kiddos.
> 
> i might do more here though because i like it- maybe a few years later as pro heroes? idk i like the ideas :)
> 
> idk how to tag or title this either

“-and they really tried to just call me over like a cat! Can you believe that?!”

Looking at how his ears were standing straight up, his tail constantly flicking and twitching behind him, fur standing up with his irritation, Sakuma couldn’t really help the smile he was trying so hard to fight back, biting the inside of his cheek.

“Yeah- it sounds terrible.”

And Genda squinted at him.

“Are you laughing?”

“N-no-! I would never-!”

“You are!”

At least he could try to pass off the faint blush tinting his cheeks as just trying too hard to hide how much he wanted to laugh. Genda almost growling like a kitten did not help at all.

Another day, another patrol together. Nothing Sakuma and Genda weren’t already used to it, the routine comfortably familiar to them both.

When the villain popped up quite literally out of nowhere, they weren’t exactly worried- concerned over getting any civilian nearby to safety and away from possible harm? Sure- but worried over the unexpected situation? Not really. They could handle this.

And it was fine, at least for a while, nothing they were struggling with. With his and Genda's powers combined, it was laughably easy to get the upper hand. Even with the guy’s combat oriented quirk, he couldn’t stand a chance against the two of them.

Then, Sakuma turned around and found a gun pointed at him.

There was another villain. And he was his target now.

His finger was already on the trigger, wicked, crooked smile on his face.

Sakuma froze, knowing there was no way to dodge that shot, all he could do was brace himself, feeling like time around him had suddenly slowed down, shutting his eye tightly and-

He heard a grunt. There was no pain, no bleeding, no fading out of consciousness.

When he opened his eye, he felt like the air was knocked out of him.

Genda was standing in front of him, shielding him with his body. He only didn't scream because Genda was still standing, no blood or wound in sight.

A bullet –or what they thought was one- fell to the ground, harmlessly rolling a few inches away from them. That hardly helped Sakuma calm down.

“Genda- are you alright?!”

He just rubbed a spot near his shoulder, looking at Sakuma in clear confusion at the glaring lack of wounds and blood, then trying to flash him a smile to calm him down.

“Don’t worry, it just stung a bit.”

That was hardly reassuring.

The villain’s smug face was starting to fade, staring at Genda like whatever was happening wasn’t what he expect, the other guy just taking the distraction to run. Genda was quick to dismiss the seemingly failed shot, just turning to glare at the villain instead.

“Alright then, you-”

And suddenly, the words died on his lips, his body freezing in place.

“Genda…?” Hesitantly, almost afraid, Sakuma placed a hand on his shoulder, ready to ask what was wrong- only to be suddenly pushed away.

Genda was shaking, his eyes wide as he collapsed to his knees. Suddenly his form started shifting, growing bigger and bigger, fur sprouting, a pained growl ripping itself from his throat as his body changed against his will. All Sakuma could do was watch, not even knowing what was going on- why it was happening.

Sakuma knew Genda's lion form by heart now, knew of every single one of his scars, knew how he looked when he was happy and when he was angry.

This... This wasn't Genda.

The creature was easily twice the size of the lion it was supposed to be, fangs so grotesquely big and twisted they didn't even fit into his mouth anymore, claws so large they could dig into the street like it was nothing but dirt. His fur was so much darker and longer, coarse like sandpaper, tail lashing out like a whip. It almost didn’t resemble the proud and strong lion it once was anymore.

When his eyes locked on Sakuma, he froze. There was no sign of recognition in them- no sign of humanity. His friend was gone, there was only a mindless beast left behind. And now that beast was eyeing him hungrily, like a predator.

The villain was laughing, saying something, but whatever he was spewing out, Sakuma wasn’t listening to it. Once the beast roared, he ran.

His mind was running a mile per hour, still trying to figure what the hell just happened and if there even was anything he could do to stop it. At least the civilians were fast enough to react once they saw the big, scary beast on the streets and ran away before he had to stop to evacuate them. That was one less thing to worry about. Now he just had to figure out what to do with his friend-turned-monster. All without thinking of everything that could go wrong if he so much as tried to fight back with a quirk as destructive as his. He already paid for it with his eye- he couldn’t put Genda through that too.

But he still had to fight back, he knew that, as much as he hated it. He had no idea what exactly had caused all this, but… he was still a hero, even if still in training. He had to stop his friend’s rampage.

Snapping Genda out of it was already out of the question- as much as Sakuma wanted nothing more than for his friend to recognize him and stop on his own before things could get even worse, he wasn’t an idiot. He could tell it was a horrible idea much more likely to get him killed.

He hated the thought alone… but he knew he had no choice anymore. He knew how dangerous both of their quirks could really be.

Taking a deep breath, Sakuma let the energy build up in his limbs. If he really had to fight Genda, then he would give it his all. It was the only way he could ever win against him, anyways.

That is, if he even had a chance to win at all.

“Alright… if you’re not going to stop, I’ll have to make you.”

The beast just growled. Sakuma wasn’t sure if he was just trying to intimidate him or if he had really understood his words. He wasn’t even sure of why he was bothering to talk at all- maybe he was still hoping that it wouldn’t come down to a fight, that Genda would snap out of whatever the hell was doing this to him and stop before it was too late.

Genda just pounced, claws and fangs bared and prepared to maul anything they could find. He was much faster than Sakuma expected, barely managing to get out of the way in time to dodge those claws. That wasn’t enough to deter Genda, almost effortlessly digging his claws out of the street and looking at him, eyes locked on his prey and a low growl at the back of his throat.

They were locked in a game of cat and mouse for what felt like far too long, Genda refusing to give up on his prey and Sakuma trying to find a way to take him down as harmlessly as possible- all while keeping an eye out for him, for civilians and for other heroes.

Right as Genda was getting ready to charge again and throw all of his weight at him, Sakuma made a split second decision, not even thinking once about it- just standing next to what he hoped was the sturdiest wall he could see. Feeling his heart pounding and his blood rushing, he forced himself to stay as still as possible, just inviting Genda to charge. And that’s what he did.

At the very last moment, Sakuma rolled out of the way and quickly came to a halt, pushing himself back on his feet. Genda ran into the wall headfirst, cracking it, but luckily not breaking it down. For a moment, he was too dazed and stunned to react.

It was his chance.

Without hesitation, Sakuma jumped, his fist charged, wisps of pure energy encasing it.

When it connected with the side of Genda's head, energy bursting right in his face, Sakuma froze. It was strong enough to make Genda stagger with a low, pained whine. Then, he saw the blood.

For a moment, Sakuma forgot how to breathe.

Genda was pawing at his eye, now shut tightly, blood still freely flowing.

He hurt him. He was injured and bleeding and in pain and it was all his fault and-

Sakuma was snapped out of his panicked thoughts when he heard the furious roar, the only warning before Genda lunged again, right eye shut tightly and animal fury burning in his left eye.

As much as he was hating himself for it, the fight wasn’t over yet. And he had to end it now, one way or another.

Whispering an apology under his breath, Sakuma braced himself. He couldn’t afford to make a mistake now- for Genda's sake and everyone else nearby. As much as he wanted the fight to be over already.

Every new hit was hurting Sakuma more than it injured Genda, the animal screams and growls almost pushing him to stop more than once. His body was at his limit already, but he couldn’t give up, not now, Genda still needed him, needed his help.

He could make out the bruises and blood between all the fur. He didn’t want to think of how much they must hurt him, didn’t want to think of how they were all his fault.

And then, among rubble and dust, Sakuma closed his eye and raised his fist one more time. One more hit, that was all he had left in him. Genda looked like he was at his limit too… he had to hope that it was true, that it would really work.

“Genda…” still no reaction to his name. Sakuma hated it. “If you can still hear me… I’m getting you back now…”

It was all he could say before Genda charged at him again, slower and almost stumbling over his own paws. Sakuma forced himself to stay still, watching him get closer, maws open and twisted fangs ready to close on him. He waited, waited and waited until the very last moment- and finally, when Genda was close enough, he struck, putting all his weight and strength behind his punch, grimacing as he felt it connect, letting what was left of his quirk’s power loose.

For a moment, there was silence. Genda was standing eerily still, not moving an inch. Sakuma could barely keep himself on his feet by now, adrenaline starting to fade.

Then, Genda managed a step back. Sakuma tensed up, already fearing the worst, thinking that it might not have been enough to stop him- until he stumbled and collapsed.

Sakuma didn’t hesitate to run to him.

There he was, lying unconscious on the ground, bloodied, battered and exhausted, back to his small, vulnerable human form, but alive. Sakuma finally allowed himself to breathe when he found Genda's own breathing, soft and steady, arms shaking as he knelt next to him and held him close, just reassuring himself that he’d be alright.

Genda was alive, despite it all. That was what mattered.

When he heard the yells of people getting closer and glanced behind them, recognizing the pro heroes finally getting there, Sakuma swayed and fell to the ground, letting the world fade to black.

He still wasn’t letting go of Genda, holding him as close as he could, like he was the most precious and important thing in the world.

* * *

Sakuma shouldn’t have been surprised when he woke up in the hospital, squinting his eye against the bright lights of his room. It was becoming a scarily common occurrence ever since they had started high school. Might as well get used to it before graduating as pro heroes, then.

Groaning, he forced himself to at least sit up and take a look around. Everything looked just as he expected- and smelled just as bad, the pungent smell of antiseptics and other medicines making him scrunch his nose. Genda would definitely hate this-

Wait a moment.

His eye widening, Sakuma didn’t hesitate to push himself out of bed as soon as the memories of the recent fight came back to him- and he remembered just how poor Genda's condition was after everything he had to endure in so little time.

He had no time to waste laying down there, he had to go find Genda.

“Hey- you shouldn’t be out of bed!”

As soon as he had pushed himself into the hall, leaning against the wall to stay on his feet, one of the nurses nearby tried to stop him, worry and a hint of fear in her voice. Sakuma just shook his head, trying to push her away when she tried to force him back into bed.

“Where- where is he? Genda-?” She wasn’t paying attention to his questions, just trying to take him by the arm as carefully as possible to drag him back into the room- and he didn’t hesitate to yank his arm out of her grasp, glaring at her. “No- I need to find Genda- where is he? Is he…?”

He was almost afraid to ask.

In the end, despite all of her protests and concerns, the unfortunate nurse having to deal with his stubbornness couldn’t take him back to bed and make him rest like he needed. With a tired sigh, she relented, stopping for a moment by the closest desk to get him the room number he was ready to beg for.

Sakuma didn’t wait any longer- as soon as he was finally told where to go, he was on his way, disregarding all the yells and pleas to stop. None of that mattered- what really mattered was seeing Genda and making sure he was alright. Making sure he did survive.

His heart sank as soon as he realized where exactly they were keeping him. The ICU was never a good sign.

He was almost too afraid to see what was awaiting for him inside the room, almost too afraid to confront his own failure to keep him safe. Sakuma silently shook his head in an attempt to push away those thoughts- just standing in front of that door was useless now, it wasn’t going to help Genda heal faster. He couldn’t put this off, not now.

With a sigh and a deep breath, Sakuma opened the door and stepped inside.

Genda was fast asleep on the bed, an IV in his arm and an oxygen mask on his face, bandages tightly wrapped around his head and arms, the steady beeping of his vitals bringing a little bit of reassurance and comfort despite the painful sight. There must be more damage he wasn’t seeing, hidden under sheets and clothes. Sakuma wasn’t sure if not being able to see the rest made him feel at least a little bit better or just worsened the still lingering guilt. He still couldn’t help his relief seeing him as human, the memory of that beast that wasn’t Genda still too fresh in his mind. The memory of what he had done still too painful.

He just hoped that he wouldn’t have to see it ever again.

He hoped he would never hurt him like that again.

With Genda seemingly not about to wake up any time soon, Sakuma had to settle for sitting on a chair by the bed and wait. He wasn’t going to leave him alone now, not after all that mess. After he had gotten so hurt just to keep him safe.

He wasn’t sure of how much time had passed before someone opened the door, a doctor stepping into the room, stopping on his tracks when he saw him inside.

“I know, I know- I shouldn’t be here. Tell me how he is.” He wasn’t really in the mood to deal with more people. The doctor definitely noticed that too, just taking a moment to glance at the papers in his hands with a tired sigh.

“He… he was drugged. Something that interfered with his quirk. We don’t know what kind of drug it was, but it seems to have faded almost entirely from his system- we’ll still have to monitor him for a few days to be sure that there won’t be any lasting effects.”

Sakuma felt like the air was knocked out of him just with those words.

“So… you don’t know if he’ll be okay…?”

The doctor just sighed, slowly shaking his head.

“We’ll need more time to tell for sure.”

The more he was told, the more Sakuma wished to have been the one to take that bullet.

He refused to leave the room, even when the doctor told him that it was highly unlikely that Genda would be waking up any time soon and asked him to go rest for a while. Even if he was still asleep, even if he ended up sleeping the next few days away, Sakuma wouldn’t leave, not now. Genda needed him there. it was the least he could do for him now, after how much he had made him suffer.

All Sakuma did was sit there in silence, keeping a close eye on Genda and watching the rise and fall of his chest, reminding himself that he was still alive, that despite it all, he would be okay- he had to be. He didn’t know what he would do if something went wrong. It was already his fault that Genda got this hurt.

When the door opened again, slow and careful, Sakuma was expecting a doctor or a nurse to step in, take a look at Genda and then chide him for how much he was pushing himself.

He didn’t expect to see any of their friends showing up there so soon after the incident.

“Kidou…? Fudou…?”

“The school told us something happened, so we came here as soon as we could.”

While Kidou just politely explained and walked in, Fudou pretty much pushed his way into the room and to Genda's side, eyes narrowing dangerously and fists balled once he took in every bandage and every wound.

“What the hell happened?”

And Sakuma froze, composing himself just enough and just in time to hide the worst of it and hope they just thought he was still rattled by whatever they had gone through.

He couldn’t tell them. He couldn’t let Genda suffer even more, letting everyone know what he surely would be blaming himself for.

“It… it was a strong villain. I don’t really know what he did with that quirk… but it was bad.”

Kidou grimly nodded along, Fudou only managing to stay silent despite his anger just not to bother their sleeping friend. Sakuma almost sighed in relief.

“What did the doctors say? He…” Fudou would never admit that it almost scared him to say anything else out loud.

“They’re… not completely sure of how he was affected yet. They’re keeping him under observation for now.” At least that wasn’t entirely a lie. Even if Fudou didn’t really look happy with that answer, far from it.

“If I see those bastards…”

“Not now, Fudou…”

Under other circumstances, Fudou would’ve just sneered at Sakuma's request, would’ve kept egging him on just to get a reaction out of him. Now, he just went uncomfortably quiet.

The rest of the afternoon was uncomfortably quiet, small talk hardly breaking the silence or the awkward tension still hanging in the air. When it was getting late and it was time to leave, Genda wasn’t awake yet. As much as they knew they should’ve expected this, it was still disappointing, to say the least. Fudou looked angrier than when he had walked in, Kidou couldn’t really hide just how tired he looked.

No one managed to feel at ease when they had to leave. They could only hope things would get better soon.

* * *

To Sakuma's relief, Genda didn’t take much longer to wake up, dizzy, sore and confused, but alive. It was more than what Sakuma thought he could’ve hoped for.

He barely remembered to send a quick message to their friends before rushing to Genda's side, so relieved to see him sitting on the bed and aware, he was far too close to crying for comfort.

“H-hey… how are you feeling…?” He was almost too scared to ask. Too scared to even try to hold his hand.

At least Genda didn’t seem to notice, frowning as he held his head in his hands, tail curled close to his body like he did whenever he was in pain. The guilt still sitting heavy in his stomach didn’t hesitate to make itself known at that sight.

“I-I’m… fine- kinda…”

Sakuma didn’t point out how obvious of a lie that was.

“Keep resting, you were hurt badly enough already…” He didn’t even want to think about the effect that drug must’ve had on him. “I’ll call a nurse in a second, just- lie down and rest, please…”

Genda managed a slow nod, carefully lying back down before his headache could get any worse.

Sakuma had to remind himself that nothing would happen just by walking away for a few minutes. It was hard to believe, anyways.

Right as a nurse was checking on Genda and making sure he would stay alive, Fudou nearly barged into the room, not slamming the door open by sheer miracle, probably. Kidou walked in right behind him, much calmer and more polite than he was. Sakuma welcomed the distraction, turning his attention away from the TV and to his friends. They only exchanged a somewhat awkward wave while the nurse was still busy with their friend, just waiting for her to be done and leave to start talking. At least she seemed to notice, not taking much longer with her routine, just reminding Genda to stay in bed and not push himself before walking out of the door.

“So, how are you two doing? You had everyone worried today.” Kidou either didn’t notice or didn’t mind their guilt, the two of them almost immediately looking away. If that was what it would take to make them be a little more careful, Kidou certainly didn’t mind.

“I’m fine, they just wanted to keep me here to be sure there wasn’t anything else going on that they had missed.” Sakuma wisely left his own quirk out of the explanation- they already had dealt with enough scares from that as it was.

“I… they say they want to keep me under observation a while longer… just in case.” That was all the explanation Genda was willing to give, his voice low like trying to hide.

They could almost feel Kidou’s glare narrowing behind his googles.

“Why? Did something else happen?”

Before either Sakuma or Fudou could interrupt after noticing Genda tense up, he spoke up.

“I-I don’t know- I just woke up, they haven’t had the time to explain yet- I’m fine, really, don’t worry about me.”

Like they didn’t know that was just one of his poor attempts to stop worrying people, even at his own expense.

“Genda, you-”

“Oh, hey- they’re talking about that attack from the other day.”

That stopped the soon-to-be argument, at least.

They turned to look at the TV after Fudou's casual remark- and Genda paled.

The footage was shaky, taken from a phone somewhere high up enough to safely watch the disaster going on in the street. The massive beast was there in plain sight, mouth hanging open when the deformed teeth made it impossible to shut it completely, low growls coming from it, enough to scare people away even before the monster attacked. When he lunged, the footage suddenly ended. Sakuma wanted to hope that whoever was recording was smart enough to get to safety right there and then.

“What the hell was that thing…” Fudou couldn’t really hold back his comment, watching the still of the footage that now filled the screen in slight awe. “You guys really got in a fight with _that_?”

“We didn’t…”

All the eyes were on Genda now. Sakuma wanted to stop him, already seeing how he was shaking, hands gripping the sheets so hard his knuckles turned white. He was ready to say something, anything to get all the attention off him, but Genda glanced at him, a weak and tired plea in his visible eye, all he needed to do to make him stop.

He needed to tell them.

“That monster… that’s me. I did that.”

The silence that fell on the room felt almost suffocating. Genda looked ready to run, Kidou and Fudou staring at him in disbelief. Sakuma was really regretting not stopping him now.

“What…” Fudou was the first to find his voice again. “You- you’re kidding me, right? You-”

“Do you think I like this? I wish I really wasn’t that monster… b-but it’s me- I-I did that- I-” Genda couldn’t look at any of them in the eye, almost choking on his own broken words. The sight alone was enough to shut them up, anything they were thinking of saying quickly forgotten.

The heavy and uncomfortable silence only lasted until Fudou and Kidou took their leave, already realizing there was nothing they could say or do, not right away.

Sakuma sat there a while longer, torn between speaking up, doing his best to comfort and reassure his hurt friend and staying quiet, not really knowing what he could say, if there was anything to say at all.

When it was getting too late, time flying before he could even realize it, Sakuma reluctantly stood up and headed for the door, a weak goodbye leaving his lips before finally opening it to leave. Genda didn’t answer.

* * *

A day later and Sakuma was ready to be discharged, none of his injuries serious enough to keep him there any longer. Genda still needed time, between his heavier injuries and the doctors still concerned over whatever had turned his quirk into _that_.

Sakuma hated it, wanted nothing more than to take him and leave that place together. He knew how much Genda hated hospitals, how eager he always was to get out, how restless he was being stuck in bed for so long. This time, Genda was quiet, laying down and barely nodding or shaking his head in answer to just about anything Sakuma tried to tell him.

Perhaps what hurt more was knowing part of this was his fault. That Genda might not be in such a poor condition had it not been for how he handled that fight.

Sakuma could barely say goodbye before nearly running away.

* * *

The following days were not getting much better.

Whenever Sakuma went to visit him, Genda was too quiet for his liking. Still blaming himself for everything.

That day wasn’t any different.

Genda was sitting on the bed, knees up to his chest, tail curled around his legs and refusing to look at him, bandages still wrapped tightly around his head and eye. Even knowing that it was Genda's own guilt doing this, Sakuma couldn’t help but feel responsible, the memory of his blood and agonizing whines and growls still too fresh in his mind. Like it or not, at least part of this was still his fault. Now he had to fix this- somehow. Even when he didn’t have the slightest idea of how.

He was too scared of losing him to just leave without trying.

Taking a deep breath, Sakuma did the only thing he could think of. He sat at Genda's side, a gentle hand on his shoulder in an attempt at soothing him at least a little bit.

“Hey…”

All Genda did was curl his tail around himself a little tighter. He still refused to let Sakuma look at him, his messy hair falling over his face like trying to hide.

They couldn’t keep going like this, not anymore.

“Come with me.”

Genda's ears twitched, finally turning to look at him, nothing but confusion in his eyes.

“What?”

“You heard me- come with me. We’re going to spar- no quirks, no tricks, just you and I.”

And suddenly, Genda's eyes widened.

“W-what- but-”

“As long as we’re sticking to punching and kicking rather than using quirks we’ll be fine- and I know you, Genda.” He couldn’t help his tired sigh. “You’re… this whole thing is stressing you out- I can see it. I know you need to let it out.”

For a moment, Genda was silent. Sakuma was already starting to fear the worst, thinking that he might’ve offended him with that simple offer- or worse, even.

Then, Genda stood up, ears and tail low, still looking painfully unsure of everything around him.

“I… I guess you’re right. If you really think nothing bad is gonna happen…”

Sakuma didn’t need to hear any more to know that he was just talking about himself. It pained him more than he could ever imagine.

Sneaking out of the hospital was much easier than anyone would expect. They were already used to doing this sort of stuff anyways, even with all the yelling that would follow. Sakuma didn’t care, he could deal with that.

They found a good spot in the open and close enough to the hospital to come back quickly once they were done, yet far away enough to have their privacy. Perfect.

As soon as they were ready and starting their quick exchange of punches and kicks, Sakuma could see it.

Genda was hesitating. Overthinking every step. Still afraid of what could happen.

Even for a light spar, it was far too easy to win.

Punch after punch, kick after kick, dodge after dodge, Sakuma saw it all coming. Blocking, returning the hits and moving aside, they kept going until Sakuma had Genda with his back against a tree.

For a moment, they were silent.

Sakuma sighed, stepping back enough to give Genda room to breathe and recover, looking him over just to make sure that he hadn’t pushed himself too much.

“… Are you alright? Did you get hurt?”

Genda just shook his head, not quite meeting his eyes. Not a good sign.

Sakuma had to try very hard to carefully pick his next words.

“Genda, I-”

“Sorry.”

Sakuma blinked, looking at him. Genda still was refusing to meet his gaze.

“What?”

“I’m still giving you trouble, aren’t I? And you’re so worried over me…” His words trailed off into a soft, humorless chuckle. “You shouldn’t have to be this worked up over me.”

Alright, that was enough.

Frowning, he grabbed Genda's hands. He didn’t miss how it took Genda by surprise, how he almost looked afraid to just be touching him like that.

“Stop that.”

“What-”

“Stop. That.” Sakuma was completely serious too. It made Genda shut up and look at him, at least. “You were drugged. That asshole _made_ you turn into that monster.”

“But-”

“No buts- do you really think that if it was all your fault then you’d here? Do you think that we all would be so worried for you if it really was?” Silence. Sakuma took it as his cue to go on. “It. Wasn’t. Your. Fault. And I’ll say it as many times as it takes for you to get it through that thick skull of yours.”

Finally, he let go of Genda's hands, taking a step back to just let him think and let those words finally sink in. He knew it would take more time, Genda still needed to recover, but… if it at least helped to ease some of the guilt, then that might be enough.

Genda deserved better than that.

“… I… I don’t know… but thanks… for still believing in me…”

It pained him to still see the doubt in his eyes, the fear that it might not be over yet.

Sakuma promised that they’d find those villains. For Genda's sake.

“Don’t thank me.” Sakuma sighed, looking away, a hand reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear. “It’s… it’s still my fault that you’re so hurt… I…”

He couldn’t forgive himself for that, not when he was still afraid of what he’d see under those bandages.

Then, he felt a hand taking his. Genda offered him a tiny smile, nothing like his usual grins, but still- it was something. It was better than seeing him still drowning in guilt.

“Thank you. You saved me- I’m here because of you.”

Sakuma stared at him, eye wide and mouth agape. Then, he looked away, feeling the heat creeping on his face.

“I-it was nothing- any other hero would’ve done that-”

“But you were the one who was there… don’t put yourself down, that couldn’t have been easy… you could’ve just focused on other people and left me alone. You did great, Sakuma.”

Now he definitely could feel his face oddly warm-

“You… y-you’re not supposed to be cheering me up-! I was here to help you!”

And now Sakuma was pouting. Genda blinked, staring at him… and snorted, barely managing to hold back a chuckle.

He didn’t realize how much he missed seeing Genda like that until now.

“But really… I owe you so much…”

“Shut up- you know I’d do anything for you, idiot.”

“But you literally saved my life! Just let me at least thank you properly-”

“I-I said shut up-!”

“And what if I don’t want to?”

At least things were starting to go back to normal.

They could only hope that they’d keep getting better. That they would recover.


End file.
